t e m p o r a l p ow e r s d i a l e c t
A Note about Dialect
One of the more interesting aspects of
my job as a production dialect designer is
researching the language of the play I’m
working on. (Well, actually, I think all aspects are fascinating; but then, I should!)
While the languages of the play and the
company are (usually) both English, varieties of English can be very different indeed.
I’ve done several Irish plays, including
three at the Mint. But Temporal Powers
poses the most linguistic challenges for
American speakers and listeners. Why is
Irish English so different from American
English? And why is it “denser” in this
play than in Teresa Deevy’s Wife to James
Whelan, which we did here last season? To
find out, I had to hit the books.
Historians agree that Ireland’s first exposure to English occurred in the 12th century, but its progress was slow until the mid16th century, when the English Tudors
launched a series of invasions and colonizing resettlements that lasted through
the Stuarts and finally Oliver Cromwell.
The last mass migration from England to
Ireland took place in the 17th century—
thereafter the traffic all ran the other way.
That’s why Irish English can sound like
Shakespeare, or the King James Version of
the Bible, with word order and usage that
seems archaic to us.

So, how is Irish English different from
British and American Englishes? For starters, there are English terms that have both
standard English and special Irish English
meanings. This can be very confusing until you sort out which meaning applies!
You could write a book about every difference, including grammar and syntax (and
people have), but I won’t. I’ll just list a few
words and idioms that we’ve encountered
in our play.
Whisper can mean listen • Till can mean
so, in order that • And can mean as, while,
with, even who • After can mean has just
done, just happened • Over can mean eastwards, in the east • True for you [him, her]
means You’re right [he’s, she’s right] • Have
a right to means should
And did you know that so long, meaning
goodbye, comes from the Gaelic slán? I’d
had no idea. That’s why I love doing this
part of the work; I always learn something!
Slán for now …

Amy Stoller
DIALECTS

The other main influence on the development of English in Ireland was Irish Gaelic. While some aspects of Irish English can
be traced to Shakespeare’s day or earlier, a
great proportion of its syntax (everything
from word order to verb tenses and beyond) and some vocabulary are directly
traceable to Gaelic—which enriched the
English language even as Ireland’s native
language (and its speakers) were systematically impoverished and suppressed.

Gaelic influence tended (and tends still)
to be heard more strongly in rural areas,
where there was less direct contact with
British English. This effect was somewhat
lessened during the 20th century, as “talkies” and radio, then television, carried
more urban, Anglo-influenced language
to the wider population. This may partly
explain why Wife to James Whelan (written
only a few years later than Temporal Powers, but set in a different era) was more accessible to the Americans in our company;
but so perhaps does the nature of the community and its characters.